Alleged MS-13 gang members charged in assault on boy, 15, in Brentwood, prosecutors said
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney. Credit: Barry Sloan
Seven accused members of a Huntington clique of MS-13 were indicted Friday on charges of kidnapping and assaulting a 15-year-old boy lured to the Huntington train station before being severely beaten and left unconscious.
The suspects were named as alleged members and associates of Huntington Criminal Locates Salvatrucha, or the HCLS clique of MS-13. They are accused of attacking the teen the morning of Jan. 6, along with a minor, who convinced him to come to the station, according to the Suffolk County district attorney’s office.
Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said in a statement; “The allegations of this indictment are horrific. Gang violence has no place in Suffolk County, and it will not be tolerated.”
Prosecutors said five of the seven suspects surrounded the teen and held him at knifepoint, when they stole his money and belongings. They are accused of then taking turns punching and kicking him.
Authorities said they forced him into a car, then drove him to an abandoned building of the Pilgrim State Psychiatric Center in Brentwood and stole the teen’s cellphone.
Once they arrived at the former psychiatric center, they are accused of forcing the teen to climb though a hole in the wall of the building where they beat him. One of the suspects, Zepeda Padilla, was accused of stabbing the teen in the neck, which later required stitches.
Padilla remains at large and wanted by police on the grand jury’s indictment.
One of the other suspects allegedly hit the teen in the head with a rock, knocking him unconscious and fracturing his skull.
When the teen later awoke, he crawled out of the building and started walking down a road until he collapsed. He was found by a passing driver who sought help.
The teen underwent surgery, including a craniotomy, to treat a brain bleed and fractured skull, prosecutors said.
Six of the suspects were indicted by the grand jury on felony charges of robbery, gang assault, assault, kidnapping, attempted assault and robbery.
The minor accused of luring the teen to the train station was charged with first- and second-degree robbery and criminal facilitation.
The five suspects in custody and the minor were arraigned between Jan. 30 and Feb. 6 and pleaded not guilty while various bails were set.
Police are asking anyone with information about Padilla’s whereabouts to Suffolk County police or Crime Stoppers at: 800-220-TIPS.
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
'I'm going to try to avoid it' A trip to the emergency room in a Long Island hospital now averages nearly 4 hours, data shows. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports.
'I'm going to try to avoid it' A trip to the emergency room in a Long Island hospital now averages nearly 4 hours, data shows. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports.
